Hammered: The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book 3

Thor, the Norse god of thunder, is worse than a blowhard and a bully - he’s ruined countless lives and killed scores of innocents. After centuries, Viking vampire Leif Helgarson is ready to get his vengeance, and he’s asked his friend Atticus O’Sullivan, the last of the Druids, to help take down this Norse nightmare.One survival strategy has worked for Atticus for more than two thousand years: stay away from the guy with the lightning bolts. But things are heating up in Atticus’s home base of Tempe, Arizona....

I really enjoyed the first two books in the series (and the narrator is excellent) with their mix of mythology, humor, and high-stakes paranormal adventure. Sadly, this installment was a let-down for me--it was oddly-paced, with lots of starts and stops, and it turned Atticus into a bloodthirsty jerk with a serious case of hubris.

There were some brilliantly funny parts (Atticus's conversation with Jesus, and Oberon's bacon latte riff), but the book just didn't work for me as a whole. For example, the story comes to screeching halt for three or four chapters as a several characters we've just met sit around a campfire and tell stories about how Thor done 'em wrong. I didn't know these guys, so that section really dragged, and it killed the forward momentum of the plot.

Also, Atticus is visited by several deities in advance of his ill-advised hunting party, and warned that killing Thor is a Really Bad Idea. But he shrugs off the warnings, and goes his merry way--and the predicted doom never materializes.

But the major problem I had with this book was that there wasn't anything real at stake for Atticus. He's made a promise to help his lawyers Gunnar and Leif in their attempts to assassinate Thor. Atticus himself has zero personal stake in the outcome--to quote a friend, he's like a guy who's promised to give his buddies a ride so they can rob a bank.

For being the one person in the "hunting party" without a personal grudge against Thor, Atticus causes an awful lot of collateral damage during his visits to Asgard, killing and maiming beings who never did him any harm and who were just trying to protect their turf. I finished listening to the book thinking that Atticus richly deserved whatever vengeance the surviving gods were going to wreak upon him.

I'm going to listen to the next volume in the series, in hopes that the author will regain his mojo, but I was pretty disappointed with this installment.

Jack the Ripper: The 21st-Century Investigation

There have been countless attempts to solve the brutal murders committed by Jack the Ripper more than 100 years ago. It seems that almost everyone has their own theory and their own suspect, ranging from the reasonably likely to the entirely preposterous. What this most famous of British criminal cases has always required is a professional eye to analyse it with all the benefits of modern investigate techniques. Now that has been provided in the shape of the man most qualified to solve the case: former British murder-squad detective Trevor Marriott.

Wow, this book sure could have used a book doctor or decent editor to improve the pacing and structure. It actually presents an interesting and plausible theory as to Jack the Ripper's identity, but feels plodding and padded, probably because a lot of extraneous material was included to expand what should have been an article-length work into a book.

Marriott pads the first 9-10 chapters with exhaustive excerpts from the original coroners' inquests, then spends the next 16 chapters examining existing suspects and theories (and dismissing the work of others because of lack of evidence...ironic, because Marriott's own pet theory relies just as heavily on speculation and circumstantial "if blah-blah-blah, then suspect COULD HAVE..." types of statements), as well as describing his own failed lines of investigation.

Just when I thought this audiobook would never end, we got an extra-long Chapter 28 with a very interesting and plausible (albeit unprovable) assertion as to the identity of Jack the Ripper, and how the Whitechapter murders can be linked to similar killings in Germany and the US.

Never thought to find a book about Jack the Ripper boring, but here you have it. Not recommended for anyone but hard-core Ripperologists.

Calculating God

In this Hugo-nominated novel, an alien walks into a museum and asks if he can see a paleontologist. But the arachnid ET hasn't come aboard a rowboat with the Pope and Stephen Hawking (although His Holiness does request an audience later). Landing at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the spacefarer, Hollus, asks to compare notes on mass extinctions with resident dino-scientist Thomas Jericho.

I bought this book when Audible offered it for $3.95, and while I did finish listening all the way to the end, I'm glad that I didn't pay full price for it, or use up one of my credits.

It wasn't a bad book, and had a very interesting premise, but after an amusing first chapter when the alien Hollus shows up at the ROM, the bulk of the novel was basically a long philosophical discourse on evolution, intelligent design, religion, mortality, and ethics.

Which is fine for a work of non-fiction, but as a novel, this book definitely fell flat for me, mostly because the hero's journey from disbelief to grudging belief in a god proceeded at an absolutely glacial pace.

There was a rather clumsy attempt at creating some action via the introduction of two American Christian fundamentalist terrorists, but that came fairly late in the book and felt tacked-on rather than an integral part of the story (probably because the story switches POV to a police officer who is around for two brief scenes, then completely disappears from the narrative). Also adding to the tacked-on impression is the fact that the terrorists are targeting the museum's fossil exhibition, not the visiting aliens, and the main characters are caught up in the events purely by coincidence.

In between the alien's arrival and the terrorist attack, most of the chapters involve either long discourses between the alien and the paleontologist Thomas Jericho, or Jericho arguing with himself about whether he can accept the possibility of intelligent design, and worrying about his terminal cancer.

Honestly, this book felt like several episodes of COSMOS sandwiched in between a couple of chapters of actual science fiction.

Nine Princes in Amber: The Chronicles of Amber, Book 1

Amber is the one real world, of which all others including our own Earth are but Shadows. Amber burns in Corwin's blood. Exiled on Shadow Earth for centuries, the prince is about to return to Amber to make a mad and desperate rush upon the throne.

Loved Juliani's skillful narration of this book, but I had a hard time caring about Corwin, the book's narrator. Written in a style frequently reminiscent of hard-boiled detective novels, awkwardly combined with the occasional bit of pseudo-Elizabethan dialog, this very short book follows the adventures of a man who wakes up, amnesiac, in a private hospital, and makes a daring escape, followed by the eventual revelation of his true identity as a royal price of Amber, a kingdom located in a alternate universe.

Once he discovers who he is (and that he's part of a large brood of seemingly-immortal, mostly-amoral siblings), he reveals himself to be mostly self-centered, ambitious, and ruthless, with occasional flashes of decency and compassion (though not enough to make him a very sympathetic character). His goal--to prevail against his other brothers, and seize the throne of his late father.

To do this, he forms and breaks alliances with various of his other brothers and sisters, and recruits a huge army of gullible aliens who believe him a god, to use as cannon-fodder. He promptly gets every last one of his followers killed in an ill-advised attack upon Amber, and his own life is in grave peril.

Where the book failed to spark my interest in listening to subsequent volumes is that I simply didn't care whether Corwin became king, or one of his other brothers. They all seemed equally arrogant and awful to me, the entitled, privileged scions who considered all those not of royal blood to be mere pawns in their game of thrones.

David Attenborough - Life on Air: Memoirs of a Broadcaster

His career as a naturalist and broadcaster has spanned nearly five decades and there are very few places on the globe that he has not visited. In this volume of memoirs David tells stories of the people and animals he has met and the places that he has visited. Over the last 25 years he has established himself as the world's leading Natural History programme maker with several landmark BBC series.

I grew up watching Attenborough's wildlife documentaries on PBS, and found this book an absolute joy to listen to--fascinating and frequently-hilarious anecdotes of his globetrotting adventures, skillfully-narrated by the man himself.

He's a man who loves animals and people, and his joy in his experiences and discoveries, as well as his deep respect for the various people he met, really came across in this memoir.

One of the best books I've listened to this year--I was actually disappointed on the days when my commute ran smoothly, because it meant less time with David Attenborough in Africa, or Australia, or South America, or Tonga, or...

Red Seas Under Red Skies

After a brutal battle with the underworld that nearly destroyed him, Locke Lamora and his trusted sidekick, Jean, fled the island city of their birth and landed on the exotic shores of Tal Verrar to nurse their wounds. But even at this westernmost edge of civilization, they can't rest for long - and they are soon back doing what they do best: stealing from the undeserving rich and pocketing the proceeds for themselves.

What does Michael Page bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Love the narrator for this series. He's got one of those plummy "Royal Shakespeare Theatre" voices, and is doing a fabulous job performing the different characters. His performance definitely adds a lot to the entertainment value of the story.

Any additional comments?

This sequel to the inventive and witty LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA proved to be just as entertaining as the first book in the series. In the wake of the events in the first novel, Locke and his best friend Jean arrive in a new city. They've managed to triumph over overwhelming odds, but the two young con-men did not escape unscarred from their experiences in their home city. Locke especially is a mess, and it takes a while before he can take an interest in the unscrupulous activities he used to revel in. But once Locke and Jean get back into the game, they are quickly pulled into a bigger, darker game by a puppet-master whose reach and skills may exceed theirs. I enjoyed watching these two brash, clever characters foiled at every turn, and forced into adventures on the high seas. Be warned that the story ends on quite a cliffhanger, and I am eagerly awaiting the release of the third volume in October. As before, Scott Lynch does some very interesting world-building...not your usual Tolkien-derived medievalesque fantasy, but reminiscent of Dickens' London hybridized with Machievelli's Renaissance Italy, set on an planet littered with the ruins of alien cities made of a strange, indestructible glass-like substance.All in all, a highly entertaining tale enlivened by an outstanding performance by a skilled narrator.

The Lies of Locke Lamora

An orphan's life is harsh---and often short---in the island city of Camorr, built on the ruins of a mysterious alien race. But born with a quick wit and a gift for thieving, Locke Lamora has dodged both death and slavery, only to fall into the hands of an eyeless priest known as Chains---a man who is neither blind nor a priest. A con artist of extraordinary talent, Chains passes his skills on to his carefully selected "family" of orphans---a group known as the Gentlemen Bastards.

What a fun story! In a world littered with the mysterious buildings and artifacts of an alien civilization, master con-man Lock Lamora and his band of sworn brothers set out to swindle the nobility, Robin Hood-style, in a setting that mingles Renaissance Italy and Dickensian London.

An orphan sold to a notorious thief-master, and trained as a pickpocket and petty thief, Locke is a born troublemaker, a restless genius with a knack for biting off more than he can chew, and leaving chaos and unintended destruction in his wake. Along with Jean Tannen, warrior and intellectual, a young thief nicknamed 'Bug,' and a set of larcenous twin brothers, Carlo and Galdo, Locke is later adopted by a priest determined to train a select group of thieves to prey upon the city's upper classes, and ultimately to break the power of the city's Capo, the master of all the criminal gangs.

Unfortunately for Locke and his gang, a new and mysterious criminal figure, nicknamed The Gray King, is also determined to take over the city's criminal underworld...and the Gray King has a frightening and powerful sorcerer at his bidding. What follows catapults Locke into a complex scheme of revenge and bloody conflict as he finds himself cast into the role of the city's unwilling savior.

Loved the high-spirited plot and the sharp dialogue, enhanced by a wonderful performance from narrator Michael Page, who gives each character a distinctive voice and characterization. I've already downloaded the sequel, RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES, and am looking forward the publication of the third book in the series in October 2013.

Hero

In the story comic book legend Stan Lee calls "spellbinding" and "totally original," Thom Creed has secrets. For one, like his father, he has super powers. Also, he's been asked to join the Leaguethe very organization of superheroes that spurned his dad. Then theres the secret Thom can barely face himself: he's gay. But becoming a member of the League opens up a new world to Thom. There, he connects with a misfit group of aspiring heroes, including Scarlett, Typhoid Larry, and Ruth, a wise old broad who can see the future. Like Thom, these heroes have things to hide....

I loved this story about Thom, a 17-year-old boy who has two big secrets. The first: he's the son of a disgraced superhero, growing up in a household where the topic of superheroes is absolutely verboten...and, so of course, he starts developing superpowers.

And the second secret, that he's absolutely terrified of his factory-worker father (or anyone, actually) discovering, is that he's also gay.

I love the main character--he's a really nice kid despite his insecurities, and he's got a very interesting and authentic-feeling relationship with his Dad, who's also basically a decent and loving man, despite his homophobia. The tensions in his home are nicely described--Thom's desire to be a hero and help people, and his terror of having his secrets discovered...and thereby disappointing the father he loves and worships.

The reader for this book is really good, and I'm finding the story very engaging. (I'm at the halfway point, and I'm finding that I really want to keep listening after I finish my daily commute. That's usually the mark of a excellent book for me.)

The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History

No disease the world has ever known even remotely resembles the great influenza epidemic of 1918. Presumed to have begun when sick farm animals infected soldiers in Kansas, spreading and mutating into a lethal strain as troops carried it to Europe, it exploded across the world with unequaled ferocity and speed. It killed more people in 20 weeks than AIDS has killed in 20 years; it killed more people in a year than the plagues of the Middle Ages killed in a century.

By turns horrific, fascinating, maddening, and thought-provoking, this book chronicles the rise and spread of a global pandemic in 1917-18 that killed millions of people, wiping out entire communities in some places, but which is little-known today.

THE GREAT INFLUENZA is not only a suspenseful account of the spread of a deadly disease to almost every nation on Earth, but also a searing indictment of how the American war effort under Woodrow Wilson's leadership helped spread the disease across the world.

Determined to send American troops over to Europe to fight, the influenza spread across America from military bases and training camps by ignoring the pleas of military medical professionals to quarantine the ill. The situation was then worsened when authorities used the strict wartime censorship laws to prevent accurate reporting, which was intended to bolster morale but had the opposite effect as people in affected cities and towns learned to distrust newspaper reports that contradicted the devastation and horror they experienced as bodies piled up in the streets and in houses, and hospitals were hopelessly overwhelmed by the numbers of the sick and dying, and the high death rates among nurses and doctors.

The book concludes with a somber look at modern efforts to chart each new wave of influenza, and what the inevitable pandemic might look like, in an era of hospital cutbacks and outsourcing of pharmaceutical manufacture.

I can't say this was an "enjoyable" book, but it was definitely very interesting and educational!

Caesar's Legion: The Epic Saga of Julius Caesar's Elite Tenth Legion and the Armies of Rome

Stephen Dando-Collins paints a vivid and definitive portrait of daily life in the Tenth Legion as he follows Caesar and his men along the blood-soaked fringes of the Empire. This unprecedented regimental history reveals countless previously unknown details about Roman military practices, Caesar's conduct as a commander and his relationships with officers and legionnaires, and the daily routine and discipline of the Legion.

Far from being a dry account of dates and battles, CAESAR'S LEGION brings this ancient Roman military force to vivid life by chronicling the lives and adventures individual commanders, centurions, and ordinary soldiers.

Filled with fascinating details about how soldiers were recruited and trained, and how they lived while on the march, the book focuses on three major periods in the legion's history: the conquest of Gaul and Britain under the leadership of Julius Caesar; the legion's role in the civil wars that ended the Roman Republic and ushered in the reign of the emperors; and the Jewish rebellion and siege of Jerusalem under Emperor Vespasian and his son Titus.

All three of these campaigns, as narrated by Dando-Collins, are rife with intrigue, political maneuvering, betrayal, battles, and heroism. It made for a very interesting listening experience, and I'm looking forward to listening to another book in this series.

Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor

Caesar Augustus has been called history's greatest emperor. It was said he found Rome made of clay and left it made of marble. With a senator for a father and Julius Caesar for a great-uncle, he ascended the ranks of Roman society with breathtaking speed. His courage in battle is still questioned yet his political savvy was second to none. He had a lifelong rival in Mark Antony and a 51-year companion in his wife, Livia. And his influence extended perhaps further than that of any ruler who has ever lived.

Beginning with a gripping account of Augustus's death in AD 14 (the author speculates that Livia may have participated in an assisted suicide so that timeline for the transfer of power to Tiberius would go exactly as planned), this fascinating account of the life of the first Roman emperor covers both the personal and political life of Augustus, who was shrewd and ruthless, cruel yet loyal to his friends, a master manipulator of public opinion, and a consummate propagandist who maintained the facade of being merely the "first citizen" in a republic, while holding sole power for forty years.

In addition to vividly sketching Augustus's famous contemporaries--Julius Caesar, Marc Antony, Cleopatra, among others--the author also presents a lively picture of life in ancient Rome, from weddings to funerals, from food to sexual mores.

A very enjoyable and informative book. I'm definitely going to be downloading the Everitt's biography of Emperor Hadrian next!

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